Kathy Offner, MA, LMHC

I consider therapy to be an alliance in which you and I work together to relieve unbearable aloneness, discover your strengths, encourage your innate strivings toward health and build new confidence in feeling and being in relationship. Every person has a need to be known and heard in an authentic, non-judgmental way. Every person has wisdom about themselves and what is needed to heal their lives. And fundamental to this, every person has the natural capacity for healing, for love and self esteem. In our work I may use a variety of tools and techniques to help move the therapy process but I recognize that change comes from the freedom to be and find oneself in the company of a trusted Other. There have been many influences on my thinking about therapy, most prominently my own life journey of healing transformation. Along the way Existentialist thought, Buddhist practicality, Relational, Experiential & Humanistic therapies have all made their marks. Participating in Nature?s cycles of change and renewal through gardening has profoundly influenced me. My experience as a parent, as a partner, as an artist has illuminated for me the endless horizons of human possibility. I will always talk with you about exercises or techniques I think might be helpful and, because our work is a collaboration, your agreement, choice, input and feedback is a necessary part of the dialogue of working together. Finding a therapist can be an intimidating process. If you would like an in-person meeting to decide whether I might be a good fit for you, I am happy to offer a 30 minute meeting at no charge. When you call make sure to specify if you are requesting this.

Most of us have times when our experiences and emotions outweigh our ability to manage or integrate all that we feel. Often these overwhelming things happen in the context of our trusted relationships, leaving us with feelings that are hard to understand or express. We feel stuck. Without adequate environmental support and connection we manage the best we can, often shutting down emotionally or repeating upsetting situations without understanding why. Self-defeating patterns of thought and behavior can keep us locked in cycles of hope and disappointment that seem doomed to repeat, offering no clear way out. Anxiety, self-doubt, resentment, loneliness and shame can become like a soundtrack in the background of what we really want to be a good and satisfying life. Just as many of our most difficult issues and patterns have roots in loss, neglect and the trauma of relational failures, healing and renewed faith in life can come through the spacious working relationship of therapy. In the safety of a focused therapeutic partnership there is opportunity to discover the very real strengths and wisdom that show the way back to the solid ground of your self. Together we can invite cut off parts of self and experience back into feeling awareness to share their knowledge. Through exploration of being in the here and now you can experience completion of unfinished business from the past and pave the way to a more powerful, fully embodied and creative way of living. The truth is that you don?t have to become somebody else to be happy with who you are. Our work together can help you to find that the self you long for is your own authentic self.